


the darkest night will end, and the sun will rise

by GeraldTheFabulousGiraffe



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Blood and Injury, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Oscar Pine Needs a Hug, Panic Attacks, Speculation, dw tho he’ll be okay, eventually, oh yeah and if u consider this r//se ga//den imma chap ur lips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-11
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:15:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22216138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GeraldTheFabulousGiraffe/pseuds/GeraldTheFabulousGiraffe
Summary: Dimly, he realised that he didn’t want to die, not really, not alone, with only his own sobs ringing in his ears.Shame he wouldn’t get a choice.MAJOR SPOILERS FOR VOL.7 CHAPTER 10
Relationships: Qrow Branwen & Oscar Pine
Comments: 20
Kudos: 135





	1. let the whole sky fall

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tikii](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tikii/gifts).



> oof.
> 
> welp, sorry again guys.
> 
> lmao this came from the discord again.
> 
> we are just the epitome of “this is why we can’t have nice things”.
> 
> i promise i’ll get to the other fics, but gcses and chronic illness are kicking my ass.
> 
> someone get this kid a fucking therapist, for the love of everything.

_ Keep the Relic safe.  _

_ Get back to the Academy. _

That was what the General had told him, worry creasing the man’s already furrowed brow. 

That was before Ruby had tried to kill him. 

At first, he had been ecstatic, if not confused to see his friend back so soon. She had told him that the clean-up of Mantle was already well-underway, and that she had been sent to help him hide the Relic. He had been glad, knowing that he wasn’t alone in such a nightmare scenario, but as soon as he refused to hand the glorified lamp over, she had snapped.

Every instinct in the back of his head - remnants of the time before his Auntie’s warm hugs and safe, soothing lullabies - since he met both teams had been screaming at him that they would turn on him, that he had to keep his guard up, that he couldn’t trust them. And now those instincts had been proven right. 

(Oh well, just another childhood trauma to add to the rapidly growing list.)

Thudding heavily in his ears, his heart slammed painfully against his ribcage with every corner he rounded. Somewhere distant, he registered the whistling of various sharp objects as they passed his head and how each one came the  _ slightest bit closer-- _

Underneath the adrenaline and the panic attack that was going to consume him any minute now, betrayed confusion whispered his desperate doubts.

( _ Surely, surely that couldn’t be Ruby because she cared for him, she’d called him her little brother whilst showing him memes, and how was that  _ **_only six hours ago_ ** _?) _

Before he could sprint through the next hallway, a strangled scream ripped from his throat. The hand not holding his cane immediately flew to his shoulder, bile rising rapidly as he became aware of  _ something _ piercing through his coat. An agonized cry darted from between his lips, the panic he’d been holding at bay now slamming into him with the full force of a Goliath. Each heaving breath seemed to cause his vision to flicker even more, until Oscar could barely tell what he was seeing.

Without warning, the burning ice in his shoulder was joined by an even more excruciating fire in between his ribs. The boy screamed, a wail of pure agony that echoed through the eerily silent corridors. 

(If he had been even a bit more coherent, he might have noticed an anguished voice shouting his name from the recesses of his mind.)

As it was, it was all he could do to curl his failing body around the Relic, crying softly at the torture it triggered. A gloved hand pulled incessantly at his, but he just folded tighter. 

Sluggishly, he registered that he was scared. Scared, and in way over his head. He had admitted that he wanted to die, but that had been on his terms! A part of his psyche - hidden by horrors both new and old - registered that he didn’t want to die alone, forgotten and afraid. Memories began to stir, soft and unbidden, of laughter and safety in a warm front room, of whiskey-red eyes sparking with fond bemusement, of the loud laughter of rowdy teens left unsupervised, of a loud voice proclaiming “cute boy oz”, of being literally cocooned in love and affection - but never enough to smother him. 

Oscar held on with the fierce, desperate strength of a dying man, and  _ wished _ .

He wished for a last chance, for help that wasn’t coming, and, most of all, he wished to be  _ home _ .

That fervent plea grew from a murmur, to a chant, to roar and Oscar was encased in amber light.


	2. don’t close your eyes, the nightmares are waiting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Never mess with a Qrow’s nest. They’ll fuck you up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> qrow: aren’t you tired of being nice? don’t you just want to go ape shitt?
> 
> mr ebi i didn’t invite you here, let me sleep please
> 
> also remember how neo was scared shitless of deadbeat bird mum? yeah

Qrow certainly hadn't expected Oscar to suddenly arrive, let alone in the middle of a fight, especially not covered in his own blood.

_ (Wait, what?) _

The kid lay slumped on the floor, huddled around the dim light of the Relic of Knowledge, Ruby holding him.

No, that wasn’t his niece; the silver-eyed huntress wouldn't be grabbing onto Oscar’s arms so harshly, nor would she happen to misplace Crescent Rose - not during a Grimm attack of all things. Not to mention the callous smirk was completely out of place; his niece would never look so utterly uncaring.

Without warning, the doppelganger ripped her arm from the boy’s, umbrella in hand.

(Umbrella? But that must mean - oh  _ fuck _ )

Apathetic to the blood that was swiftly gathering between the frosty cobbles, the body-double turned.

And ran straight into a very,  _ very  _ livid Qrow. 

Behind them, Clover was using his handkerchief to hurriedly stem the staggering cascade of scarlet liquid. If there was ever a time for the other man’s semblance to kick in, it had to be now. Their eyes met. In an instant the shapeshifter knew that the other man would protect Oscar down to his last breath. Hopefully that would give him enough time. It had to.

With a snarl unlike the monsters overrunning the city, he turned to the fleeing woman, and extended Harbinger. 

She would pay for hurting  _ his  _ kid.

(They had yet to notice Tyrian making a hasty retreat, no doubt back to his immortal mistress.)

Bellowing a war cry, he fell upon her with a clash of metal and fury. She was nimble, and good at fighting - he would give her that; it wouldn't save her, nothing could. Each brutal strike brought her closer to faltering. A few more, and she’d be down for the count. 

_ (Perfect.) _

A part of Qrow hesitantly voiced that he was perhaps going too far, but it was soon drowned out by the paternal ferocity flowing through every inch of him; it was almost as if he had another aura, but this one made of pure outrage.

Another vicious blow had her facade shattering, pink glass panes revealing an older face and widened mismatched eyes. There was blood splatter dotting her nose like particularly morbid freckles, or perhaps a frustrated artist’s canvas. Either way, all it served to do was drive him further over the edge.

  
  


“Qrow!”

Frantically trying to ward him away with her still-dripping umbrella, the petite woman edged backwards, backwards, backwards until she was free from the alleyway and disappearing down the frigid streets. Qrow made to go after her, but the tense worry in Robyn’s voice had him sprinting over, long legs nearly tripping over themselves in his haste to reach the young boy bleeding out on the floor. With the primal horror that was currently flooding his soul, he didn’t even notice the crack of his knees against the cobblestone. 

Through some heavenly miracle, Oscar’s eyes were open, if not alert. They flickered between surfaces, almost too erratic to follow. The boy was gasping, faint whimpers breaking the quiet peace of the alleyway. An awful pallor had overcome his tan skin. 

How was Qrow meant to fix this? How could he ever sleep again, knowing that the image of Oscar lying in a pool of his own blood was permanently burned into his retinas? 

A knife in his heart, Clover’s voice, dripping with terror, broke the panicked fog clouding his mind.

“Qrow.  _ Qrow.  _ Did you hear me? I said you have to go get Jaune,” at the other man’s blank look, he continued firmly, “Look at him, he won’t even make it to a transport if we don’t get this bleeding stopped.”

_ (Yes, good, some way of making this better - a way to help.)  _

Before the man had even finished, a jet black corvid was sailing into the air and away from the dire scene.

Both huntsmen looked at one another with identical raised eyebrows, the unspoken question hovering in the air.


	3. there’s no place like home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which everything turns out okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter completely ran away from me and I had to rein it in with a lead, but it’s done.
> 
> probably my fav chapter to write. definitely the longest.
> 
> i might continue this someday, not sure yet.
> 
> enjoy

Already on the opposite side of the city, Qrow landed roughly, screaming for Jaune. The blond in question looked up sharply from where he was directing the remaining civilians. He was about to speak when he noticed the alarm in the older huntsman’s eyes. Said man promptly grabbed onto his arm, towing him away.

“I can’t leave these people, they need me to help with the evacua--”

“It’s Oscar. He’s hurt. Badly.”

Like flipping a mental switch, all of the resistance in the teen’s eyes suddenly drained, only to be replaced by creeping terror. Wordlessly, he nodded sharply to Ren, and began to sprint in the direction Qrow was indicating.

A few minutes later found them hurrying through the darkened entrance to the alleyway, weapons out. They didn’t expect the sight that met them. 

Impossibly, the short while that Qrow had been gone had deteriorated the boy’s condition substantially. Instead of the tremulous gasps that had rung through the air, Oscar was barely making noise, hazel eyes dangerously glazed. Immediately, Jaune was kneeling by his side, semblance activated, reassuring murmurs splitting the fearful silence.

“Where’s Clover?” Qrow demanded sharply, “He should be here.”

“Flagging down a med-ship.” was the equally pointed reply.

Below her staining hands, Oscar had begun to writhe on the pavement, crying out weakly. Soft sobs tore from his chest as he contorted around the Relic. It was heartbreaking.

_ (At least he wasn’t deathly silent anymore. Small improvements.) _

Fortunately, Clover chose that moment to arrive, an army of first-aiders in tow. They swamped the weeping boy, wrapping him in a swathe of white bandages before whisking him away to the awaiting transport, without so much as a word to the distressed huntsmen.

\----------------------------------

It had been three days and Oscar had yet to wake up. Each hour found the shape-shifter watching restlessly from the boy’s bedside, demanding news from the nurses that had the misfortune to walk into his line of sight.

_ (Deja vu, much?) _

Miraculously, Clover had seemed to appear just on time. A doctor had later pulled Qrow aside whilst the kid was in surgery, only to tell him that Oscar had been saved, barely.

**_3 days ago…_ **

_ “Mr Branwen? May I have a word, please?” _

_ “Is Oscar alright? Is he going to be okay? Please, for the love of the Brothers, just tell me if he's alive - that, if nothing else!” _

_ If Qrow would ever be asked how he felt in the moment that he heard the doctor calling his name, he would just say “terrified”. But that wasn’t quite accurate. Only a few times before had he been this afraid; the births of his nieces, waiting for Summer’s return, and looking for Oz in the ruins of Beacon Academy. They did not even compare to the petrifying ice he felt whenever another doctor went into his kid’s room. _

_ Unmitigated dread overtook him, drowning him in an unending list of anxieties and worst-case scenarios. Paralysing thoughts filled his head; what if they had been too late? What if Oscar never opened his eyes again? What if he was already-- _

_ No, he couldn’t think that way. Oscar  _ **_had_ ** _ to be alive. Qrow didn’t know what he would do otherwise. _

_“He’s breathing, if not awake quite yet. Lucky for you, you got him here just before we wouldn’t have been able to help._ _A couple of minutes more and this would be a very different talk, but we expect him to make a full recovery. Mr Pine should regain consciousness in the next few days.”_

_ Any words after that were drowned out by the euphoria ringing in the huntsman’s ears. At that point, he could have been converted to any religion on Remnant, he was so grateful. Unashamedly wiping the elated tears from his cheeks, Qrow managed a final “thank-you” before he collapsed into the nearest chair. _

**_Present day_ **

Staring at Oscar’s still-too-pale face with the vigilance of a mother hawk, he didn’t miss the almost-unnoticeable twitch in the freckled cheek.

“Oscar? Kid, c’mon,” Qrow whispered, internally wincing at the hoarseness of his voice, “it’s time to wake up now.”

The boy in question gave a muted whimper. Underneath his eyelids, hazel eyes roved impatiently, fighting to open. And then they did.

At the sight of those groggy hazel eyes, to say that Qrow was relieved would be like saying a Deathstalker was just a large scorpion. Needless to say, it was more than an understatement. The pure joy that overwhelmed him made him feel faint; it was such a rush that he would have surely fallen to the floor if not for the chair that held up his suddenly-unstable legs.

With a shaky laugh stronger than he felt, the man spoke tenderly.

“Welcome back to the land of the living, kiddo.”

The coming days would bring new surprises, such as the discovery of Oscar’s now-activated semblance, his slow recovery in the Atlas Academy medical ward, the issue of Salem and her Grimm, as well as the kid’s utter terror of Ruby, but things would be alright now. 

After all, Oscar was home and alive. Anything else could wait.

  
  



End file.
